Since the development of networked computers, there have been various ways in which documents and other informational content can be shared between one or more computers or devices connected to the network. In the early days of networked-based communications, file sharing or file exchange may have taken place in active peer-to-peer sessions. Typically, both a sending device and a receiving device would be required to be active and on line concurrently so that data could be transferred from a sending device to a receiving device. In some cases, manual execution of specific data transmission procedures was required by at least one user at the sending node and/or the receiving node for successful transfer of the content to be shared.
One example of an early file-sharing paradigm is the file transfer protocol (FTP). In the early FTP protocols, both sending and receiving devices were required to be active at a same time so that data communications could be carried out using two communication channels. One channel might be used to transport the desired content, whereas the second channel might be used to communicate message transfer commands and replies between the sender and receiver. In some cases, a user would be required to enter file transfer commands at a terminal to at least initiate the FTP process.
Recent developments in file sharing offer web-based solutions that require web-based or cloud data storage. One such solution is the Dropbox service offered by Dropbox, Inc. In a web-based file sharing approach, a sender may store any content for later retrieval at an intermediary device, e.g., a data-storage node, on the network. Once stored, the content is available from any location at which access may be gained to the network, and at any time. Such web-based solutions can offer convenience of use, since both sender and receiver need not be active and on-line simultaneously. However, these solutions can require large amounts of data storage space depending on the number of users and amount of content that is shared by each user.